A struggling Birmingham school is the most improved sponsored academy in the whole country over the last two years, according to new government figures.

The statistics reveal that since 2013, GCSE results at Ark Kings Academy are up 27 per cent, while the national average for all schools is down by six percentage points.

The figures are good new for the Kings Norton school after the blow it received in September last year when it was deemed by education watchdog Ofsted to be “requiring improvement”.

The school, which was converted into an academy three years ago, faces a number of challenges - including above average numbers of disadvantaged pupils and children with special educational needs and English as an additional language.

Despite the challenges, some of its pupils are excelling - including Sufiyan Aziz who clinched six A*s and four As in his GCSEs this summer.

He was the first student at Ark Kings to get Further Maths GCSE and is now studying A levels in Biology, Chemistry Maths and Further Maths and hopes to read medicine at university.

He said: “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor and my GCSEs were the first step. My family are really proud.”

In 2015, the number of students achieving five GCSEs grades A* to C including English and maths reached 51 per cent - up five per cent compared to 2014.

And student progress is now significantly above the national average, with 87 per cent of students making expected or better than expected progress in English and 73 per cent in maths.

Principal Roger Punton said, “We have a rigorous focus on standards and high expectations for all pupils at Ark Kings Academy. As these results show, we are making rapid progress but there is much more to do and we are working hard to ensure that our results continue to climb year on year. We have also just started work on our new school building signalling a very bright future for Ark Kings Academy.”

Meanwhile, Ark Kings’ sister school Ark St Alban’s Academy in Highgate also made progress and comes in the top 20 most improved sponsored academies in the country over two years.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said sponsored academies were overturning years of poor performance.

He added: “Every pupil deserves an excellent education and hundreds of schools are being turned around thanks to the help of strong academy sponsors.”